Choi Won-jong Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Car and Knife Rampage: Bereaved Families Protest

◀ Anchor ▶

It was August last year.

Choi Won-jong, who hit pedestrians with his car and went on a knife rampage, causing 14 casualties, was sentenced to life imprisonment today.

Choi Won-jong asked for a reduced sentence, saying he committed the crime while mentally and physically weak, but the court did not accept this.

Reporter Song Jeong-hoon will report.

◀ Report ▶

Choi Won-jong, wearing black horn-rimmed glasses and a white mask, gets off the convoy wearing a shroud.

In August last year, Choi Won-jong hit a passerby with his car at Seohyeon Station in Bundang, killing two people, and later entered a department store and brandished a weapon, injuring a total of 12 people.

The prosecution requested the death penalty, but the trial court ruled for life imprisonment.

Additionally, considering that he could be paroled after 20 years, he was ordered to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years.

During the trial, Wonjong Choi submitted the results of a mental evaluation, saying, “At the time, he was mentally and physically weak due to schizophrenia.”

In response, the court acknowledged that he was mentally and physically weak, but ruled that it was not grounds for a reduction in his sentence.

“He had a weak ability to discriminate between objects or make decisions due to persecutory delusions caused by schizophrenia,” he said. “It does not mean that he did not have the ability to make decisions, such as stating in detail the circumstances of the crime.”

In addition, he explained that he committed the crime with the possibility of receiving a reduction in sentence through mental and physical weakness in mind, as he had searched the Internet for things like ‘Sillim-dong stabbing’ and ‘sentence reduction due to mental and physical weakness’ just before committing the crime.”

However, he stated that the death penalty, which deprives one of life, cannot be considered the only option.

The bereaved families protested.

[고 김혜빈 씨 아버지 (음성변조)]

″It is unacceptable for the victim to sentence a suspect who has deprived (the victim) of his or her right to life to life imprisonment in order to guarantee his or her right to life…″

[고 이희남 씨 남편]

″I truly resent the world in which innocent people are killed and criminals are left alive due to cruel crimes.″

Prosecutors are considering whether to appeal, taking into account the opinions of the bereaved families.

This is Song Jeong-hoon from MBC News.

Video coverage: Jaehoon Kang / Video editing: Minseo Jo

2024-02-01 11:37:00
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